Maxine Peake Quotes

I do, in a strange way, care deeply what people think.

I think with ‘Silk’ there’s something there for everyone: it’s a legal drama, but it’s human as well – you get to dip into the lives of the barristers and clerks.

The first posh meal out I had was on my 10th birthday.

I get easily distracted and become a bit of a giddy giggler. I’m not good at taking myself seriously, and laughing at myself helps ease the pressure.

I’m inspired by films from the early ’50s, especially Jean Simmons in ‘The Clouded Yellow’ – and by vintage swing, psychobilly gigs, sea shanties, and English folklore.

I take bits and pieces from everything. But I think the Method can be very isolating, and sometimes it’s more about ego than playing the character truthfully.

After my mum and dad got divorced, I was entitled to free school dinners, but my mum said, ‘Under no circumstances,’ because she was proud.

Sometimes it feels like the feminist movement never happened.

Food is important in working out a character. How she eats is a window into her temperament. If I think she likes her food, I’ll put on a few pounds, or lose a few if she lives on her nerves.

When I was growing up, because I was a bit overweight and boyish, I thought I wasn’t attractive to the opposite sex, but I have since met lads from my school who said I just seemed unapproachable.

Sometimes the darker the work, the more fun you can have.

I remember when New Labour got in. I was at Salford Tech studying drama, and everyone was jumping up and down, and I was so upset, I went to a phone box and called my granddad.

I look up to the older generation of men – Arthur Scargill, Tony Benn, Jeremy Corbyn – but my main role model has been my step-granddad Jim. He’s brilliant, very political, quite eccentric.

I don’t really engage with that world of technology, which might be to my detriment.

If I feel like if there’s a few too many people on that path with me, then I want to jump off and find another one.

When I’m not acting, I don’t feel like an actor.

I’m really unimaginative – once I like something, I fix on it.

As I’ve got older, I’ve got slightly more fussy. You’ve got less time; you need to use it wisely.

I am an actor. I love acting, and I absolutely love what I do, but I don’t want it to be every waking hour.

We need a wider sense of community because we’re all on the same planet.

They always said to me that I needed to be more feminine. I think it’s so wrong. Being boisterous doesn’t mean you are not feminine.

Often, when I am playing difficult roles, I have a problem sleeping because I can’t leave the character behind.

You want to go to your deathbed saying, ‘I didn’t sell out.’ But it’s a tough business to keep to what you believe in and get through and do well.

I left the North when I was 21 to go to drama school in London, and I stayed there 12 years.

I’m very independent, probably quite selfish, and like being able to disappear at the drop of a hat without having to explain myself – most men would find that a pain, wouldn’t they?

I was a tomboy. In my clubbing days, my friend Lucy Davies-Hunt – half-Iranian, looked like Yasmin Le Bon – could wear catsuits, while I was the one in the sweatshirt, jeans, and Fila boots.

I love ‘Splash!’ and ‘Take Me Out.’ Not that I’d ever do ‘Splash!’ It’s the parading on British TV in a swimming costume I couldn’t handle.

The women I play don’t sit in the corner eating lettuce leaves and talking about what designer shoes they have.

I think all things are political… How women are portrayed – that’s a big thing for me. What is this role trying to say about women? Is this woman weak or victimised, and, if so, do we get to understand why?

I used to think the store detective had followed me all the way home and would knock on the door and go, ‘Hello, is this your daughter? She’s got three blue lipsticks and a moisturiser from Boots in her bag.’ We just used to nick crap. Not even stuff we wanted.

What’s wrong with wanting the best for everybody?

I’m a big comfort eater, so if I’m feeling sorry for myself, I’ll just stuff my face.

In my 20s, I was going round seeing agents who were patronising because I was fat and a girl, which was a double whammy. I knew what it was to feel out-of-the-loop.

I’d rather go down with an almighty bang than play it safe.

I’m not a fan of reality TV.

I’ve always fancied being a bit of warrior, on a horse swinging a sword around, sorting out the men… Oh yes, that sounds lovely.

I’m always an advocate of ‘acting is reacting,’ which can be difficult.

When I graduated, I was my biggest ever: 15 stone, with a boyfriend – my first – of just 11 stone. I was 23 years old. It wasn’t just affecting my career: it was a health issue as well.

I was told, ‘Your career’s made by what you don’t do,’ and that always stuck with me. I drive my agent mad!

I find these dramas fascinating – it’s a world that many of us fortunately don’t dip into. The legal system is all around us, but the majority of us don’t have to go into a court, so it’s a way into another world that is unusual.

Pay in the acting world hasn’t kept up with inflation.

Everybody’s in a situation; everybody has a story. It’s about finding out why.

Cooking, you can keep. I’ve not the slightest interest in it.

My kind of work is very intense. The trouble with me is that I completely fling myself into it. I get giddy. I get terrible crushes on jobs.

I think, as a woman, you’ve got to make so many sacrifices.

‘Toast of London’ is a must-watch. Matt Berry’s off-the-wall humour is slightly surreal and a little bit deviant. That’s why I also love ‘House of Fools.’

Crying does not equal good acting.

I get angry about the way women are forced and bullied into what the male ideal is.

I have recurring dreams about losing my temper, which become quite violent. I dread to think what that says about me.

I actually used to compete at show-jumping when I was a young’un.